Untitled
by dreamsicles
Summary: Lucie doesn't believe in happily ever afters until a wish on a shooting star transforms her life. Parallels High School Musical but with some twists and turns.


Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or anything related to it.

Author's Note: This is the first chapter of my first story ever! Though it may seem like in the beginning that this story has nothing to do with High School Musical, it really does. The characters and plot are directly paralleled. Just give it some time and trust me! Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 1

"…That's the way we do it,

Let's get to it come on----- everyone!"

As the credits of High School Musical paraded across the television screen, Lucie heaved a sigh of relief. She glanced over at her best friend Heather, who sat beside her in an overstuffed armchair. Her eyes were glued to the movie and a goofy grin was spread across her face. She seemed to be in a sort of giddy paralysis. Rolling her eyes, Lucie pushed the off button on the DVD player.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Heather cried, finally awakened from her musical-induced trance.

"It was the credits, Heather," Lucie replied with another eye-roll. "After a full hour-and-a-half of this cursed movie I am NOT watching the credits!"

Heather pouted and crossed her arms in mock anger. Then she suddenly popped up out of her chair like a jack-in-the-box and did a little twirl in her bubble gum pink ballet flats.

Typical Heather.

"So how'd you like it?" she squealed breathlessly, barely containing her excitement.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lucie groaned. "It was terrible!"

"Oh come on, Luce!" Heather cried. "It wasn't THAT bad!"

Lucie flashed her You've-Got-To-Be-Kidding-Me look. She grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair and headed for the door.

"Hold on just a sec," Heather was quickly at her side. "You can't leave 'til you tell me why you didn't like it."

She grabbed Lucie's arm and sat her back down on the couch. Lucie sighed again.

"How old are you, Heather?"

"Fifteen and a half!"

"Which means what to you?"

"Um…well I'm getting my learner's permit soon?!"

"Exactly." Lucie spoke slowly and deliberately, as if she was explaining math to a first grader.

"The intended audience for this movie is more excited about losing their first tooth!!"

"Okay I see your point, Luce," Heather said. "But this is a national phenomenon for crying out loud!"

"This is definitely one bandwagon that I am NOT jumping on!"

"Alright, so besides the 'age issue'," Heather said, making air quotes with her fingers, "What else is wrong with it?"

"Well, it's obvious that the actors are all lip synching."

"That doesn't count! Did you see their intense choreographer? How are they supposed to sing and dance at the same time?" Heather pointed out.

"We do it every day in show choir," Lucie fired back.

Heather raised her eyebrows, "Correct me if I'm wrong Luce, but you don't break dance in show choir like Corbin Bleu did in 'Stick to the Status Quo."

"Alright! You win!" Lucie cried, throwing her hands in the air. "There's no point in arguing with you."

"Well you haven't provided any substantial evidence that High School Musical is the heinous movie that you claim."

Lucie sighed. Again. "I just find it a little hard to believe. Don't you think it's just a bit corny?

"So that's what this is all about?" Heather teased, "Pessimistic Lucie just can't handle a happy ending?"

"Isn't is a little too coincidental that the beautiful girl and the gorgeous guy meet at a ski resort and just happen to sing together and just happen to end up falling in love and the girl just happens to move to this guy's town and they JUST HAPPEN to end up going to the same school where they JUST HAPPEN to get detention together, win the championship basketball game and the scholastic decathlon, AND the lead parts in the school musical!?!?" Lucie exclaimed. She was standing again and panting from the outburst.

"Well, yeah Luce," Heather said, "But that's half the fun of it!"

"Its just that real life doesn't work that way," Lucie whispered, "There aren't any happily-ever-afters." She turned her head away as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Luce, of course there are happily-ever-afters. What's wrong?" Heather asked softly.

Lucie put on her jacket without answering, opened the door, and stepped out into the frosty night.

"I'll see you at school on Monday!" Heather called after her, watching Lucie slowly walk to her house.

Lucie lived only a few houses down from Heather in a neighborhood called Otter Creek. Her family had moved to Virginia two years ago, and Heather had instantly become her best friend. Now, as Lucie trudged down the sidewalk, her mind was miles away.

She couldn't understand why she had reacted so ridiculously at Heather's house.

_It's just a stupid movie_, Lucie kept telling herself. _It's not a big deal._

But something about the movie had struck a nerve within her. She had once taken the Meyers-Briggs personality test on the internet that said she was a thinker, not a feeler. So what was up with the mix of emotions that churned inside her?

_It's just a stupid movie. It's just a stupid movie,_ she repeated over and over in rhythm with her steps. She pushed away all of her thoughts and concentrated on the cracks in the sidewalk. Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks. She knew.

She looked up at the stars that sprinkled the inky night sky. The bright, artificial lights of suburbia muffled them so they were barely visible. She had looked up at the same sky at her old house in the country, but the stars were as clear as the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree. She knew what had caused her outburst at Heather's.

The movie had been a reminder of painful memories that Lucie had left behind when she moved to Virginia.

_I could have had it_, she thought. _I could have had a happily-ever-after_. Life had been cruel, accidents happened, and she found out that there were no such things as happily-ever-afters in real life.

Before she knew what was happening, Lucie was sobbing. Then, to her amazement, a shooting star flashed across the sky.

_I wish I could have a happily-ever-after,_ she thought and then chuckled to herself. Who was she kidding?

She arrived at her front door and turned the knob; it was locked. Groaning, she rang the doorbell. It was frigid outside and she was beginning to lose feeling in her toes. Someone finally undid the bolt inside and opened the door…

and Lucie gasped. That was when things began to happen.


End file.
